It may not be visiable, but those around you can hear your hearing loss. “Say dad do you think you have the TV turned up load enough?”
People that use tanks/APCs/certain other platforms like the Stryker and probably MRAPs do indead use the Bose headsets linked to earlier in the thread.
The problem is that many (maybe most, I’m not sure) soldiers ride around in Humvees, 5-tons, HEMMTs and other older vehicles that don’t have integrated comms. No integrated comms + the need to dismount from your vehicle means that the headsets used in tanks just don’t work.
Another problem with the Bose headsets (which are called CVCs in the army) is that they provide VERY minimal ballistic protection. You can put in AA batteries so you can dismount from your vehicle and still use the active noise canceling features, but you might as well be walking around with a patrol cap on as far as ballistic protection goes.
ETA: Fun fact: For a while a couple years ago so many soldiers where claiming disability for hearing related injuries that the Army started denying all hearing disability claims and making veterans appeal through the VA to get anything.
The problem with the ear muffs you linked to is that there is no way that you could fit those under your helmet, which means that the army would have to pay to have them redesigned to integrate with the existing helmet. That takes years and lots of money, and even if it seems simple to you it will still take the army years and lots of money.
The webpage mentions that they are “MICH, PASGT and ACH helmet compatible”, and they fit well under the helmet used here in Sweden, which is the only helmet I have personally used the Peltor muffs with.
ETA: Some googling turns up several pictures with US soldiers using these under their helmets.
I apologize if I seem to be advertising those specific muffs. That was not my intention, but they serve as the only experience I have with that type of muffs, and I wonder why something similar isn’t fielded more widely when hearing damage appears to be such a common occurrence.
I do not mean to be offensive, but I a curious. Has the Swedish Army fought in any recent wars?
Regarding infantry, I can understand that they don’t want to patrol with them on because they won’t hear as well, if someone’s sneaking up on them or something. The amplified headsets aren’t a solution because they aren’t going to be all that hi-fi in the grand scheme of things, and they’ll reduce the directional cues. But once shooting starts, I would think that the guy with earplugs in will hear better than the guy with ringing ears. I would think they would want to wear earplugs when they get a chance to and the shooting has already started, or if they’re about to launch an attack themselves.
I asked a similar question a couple years ago: Do soldiers use hearing protection in battle? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
Very good question and answers.
I remember shooting my revolver three times on a mountaintop and my hearing was the same as after 5 hours of very loud music. I can’t imagine shooting an M-16/AK-47/MP-5 in a room.
John Keegan, in his excellent book The Face of Battle, briefly explores the affects of noise on the modern battlefield. It’s been a while since I read it, but I hope I am accurately characterizing his conclusion: that the overwhelming volume and number of loud noises on the modern technological battlefield, and the impossibility of escaping from them, is bound to inflict not only physical but psychological damage, and may be approaching the limits of what people can endure and still function usefully.
The ACH (the current Army combat helmet) is uncomfortable enough without an over the head band that you can’t easily adjust. Also the Army has insane logistics issues when it comes to batteries, so with this headset you are making a big leap of faith that you will actually have AA batteries around to power them. I use the Bose CVCs all the time and we have never had batteries for them. As soon as I unplug from the track the CVC becomes 100% passive.
I’m not trying to say that it is impossible, just that there are large barriers from both the big Army procurement side, and from the individual soldier excuses side.
We have been in no wars since 1809, though we have participated and provided troops for several peacekeeping efforts, for example in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Liberia, and so on.
I suppose one objection from soldiers might be that they get warm and stuffy, but I suspect that is a reality soldiers have to accept for any equipment they use, especially when deployed in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. They aren’t really uncomfortable, except for the extra insulation in warm climates, though I would understand if that’s reason enough to not use them.
I had the impression that your logistics were working much better than they actually seem to be by your characterization. Would it really be a problem to supply two batteries per soldier every two weeks (if used 20 hours per day, which I doubt is necessary)? I am curious, as I don’t have much understanding of how deployments are handled in Afghanistan/Iraq. Don’t soldiers have access to bases regularly enough to resupply these things?
Just as an aside: my father-in-law was partially deafened during WWII. His hearing declined since and now is almost non-existent (he’s 91 next week), and thank God and the taxpayers for VA benefits!
There was a piece in the New Yorker about hearing damage in today’s soldiers.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/09/090209fa_fact_groopman
My own dad was hard-of-hearing my entire life, so I assume it started during his WWII experiences. As a mortarman in the infantry, he heard a lot of bangs; the big one was when a salvo of Nebelwerfer rockets landed all around him, leaving him stone-deaf for several days and shredding the coil of copper field telephone wire he was carrying on his back (that shrapnel would have hit him had the metal coil not been there).
Hearing loss in the military has been a problem for a long time.
One example is my grandfather, who was an artillery officer in WWII. We have been encouraging him to put in a disability claim for hearing loss for years now, to no avail. His hearing has deteriorated to the point that he got a cochlear implant last year that he paid for himself (with the help of private insurance).
Also note that, years ago, people thought that one’s hearing would “get better” with time. This is even alluded to in the OP’s post.
An additional problem is that, according to the law, there has to be a connection to military service. In other words, if someone served in WWII, and then waited for 60 years to put in a claim, it can be difficult to connect this to their military service, especially if they worked in a noisy environment after service (such as in a factory).
I was in the Navy, and remember being told that if I had to shout to be understood, it was noisy enough that I should be wearing hearing protection. Nevertheless, I rarely wore hearing protection in my submarine engine room. I was young, then, and young people think that they are invincible.
If I were in a combat environment, I would be more concerned with missing a cue and getting shot or blown up. Not getting shot or blown up now is much more important than the chance of hearing loss later.
I won’t make any claims about Iraq/ Afghanistan because I haven’t been deployed yet, but I can tell you that there is about a 70% chance (based only on my personal experience with dozens of army Battalions) that a unit would not have batteries for all of their soldiers to go do a two week field exercise. Soldiers that don’t use a piece of equipment in training are far less likely to even consider using it in combat, especially if it is hot and uncomfortable.
Yes, because they will not be able to follow orders.
While not military, I just got back from Afghanistan and spent time out in the field with them. Bring your own batteries…
They have a person that takes care of ammo and such right? Well they need someone to charge the batteries every night. (only half-joking)
The military has long experience in charging batteries.